Showing posts with label Soups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soups. Show all posts
Now that autumn is upon us, we can feel free to enjoy delicious soups and stews without any fear of heating up the kitchen. In fact, with the cooling temperatures a hot soup for lunch or supper might well be just what the Doctor ordered.
This delicious Garlic & White Cheddar Bisque is a favorite in my kitchen and makes an excellent light lunch or supper, or even an excellent starter for a celebratory or holiday meal!
It is smooth and creamy with a beautiful rich flavor, and is very simple to make. You can also make it ahead up to the point where you add the cheese.
Simply reheating it and then whisking in the cheese just prior to serving.
You may find yourself wondering what is it that makes a soup a bisque? Traditionally in France, a chef would define a bisque as being a soup made from shell fish and thickened with a paste created from their shells.
Sounds appealing eh? (NOT!) Julia Child was the first person to popularize Lobster Bisque in North America. Her recipe uses both shells and ground rice to thicken the bisque.
These days, more often than not, it is a term used to describe a creamy soup, usually made with vegetables, with a smooth velvety texture, which uses cream to enrich it.
They should feel smooth and luxurious in the mouth. Creamy and rich they are often served as the first course of a large dinner. You can use a food mill to puree them to the perfect silkiness, or you can do as I do and use an immersion blender. Both work equally as well.
This Garlic & White Cheddar Bisque recipe I am sharing with you today is a beautiful bowl of soup. Not only is it rich and creamy, but it has a beautiful flavor.
If you love the flavors of garlic and of cheese, you are going to adore this simple soup!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE GARLIC & WHITE CHEDDAR BISQUE
Most of the ingredients for this beautiful soup are common every day ingredients.
Leeks
Carrots
Parsnips
Celery
Chicken broth
White wine
Evaporated milk
Garlic
Seasoning
A sharp white cheddar cheese
Cornstarch
Water
Butter and canola oil for sautéing the vegetables
You will only need to use the white and very light green parts of the leek, discarding the darker green part or freezing them to use in a stock somewhere down the road.
Leeks have a tendency to be sandy, so do make sure you wash them really well. Dirt gets easily caught in the rings of a leek, so you will want to get all of that out.
HOW TO CLEAN LEEKS
Submerge sliced leeks in a bowl of cold water. Give them a gentle stir or shake to remove any soil or grit between the layers. Allow the leeks to sit in the water for a few minutes. Then scoop them into a colander using your hands or a slotted spoon
Alternately, you can cut off the length of leek you need, removing and discarding the root end. Make a cut down one side lengthwise, cutting through to the center of the leek. Wash and rinse the leek under cold running water, using your fingers to separate the layers.
HOW TO MAKE GARLIC & WHITE CHEDDAR BISQUE
This is a very simple soup to make. You begin by sautéing the vegetables in a mix of butter and oil. The oil allows you to heat the butter to a higher temperature without it burning and the butter lends a lovely nutty flavor to the vegetables.
You want to make sure all you do is to soften the vegetables without coloring them, so do keep an eye on them and stir them frequently. You also only want to soften them until they are crispy tender.
Once that is done you add some chicken broth and dry white wine and allow the vegetables to simmer in that until they are soft. If you don't have any dry white wine don't panic.
There are some very good things that you can substitute for dry white wine. There is an excellent article here on Spruce Eats regarding this issue.
Do not make the mistake of confusing evaporated milk with condensed milk. They are not the same thing.
Today I used ginger ale with superb results. Who would have thought you could do such a thing! It worked wonderfully.
And there was no aftertaste from the ginger ale. Apparently Ginger ale has the same sort of dry, sweet taste as white wine. In any case, it was an excellent substitute.
Once your vegetables have softened in the broth you will need to puree them in the broth until they are smooth. I use my immersion blender for this, but you can also use a regular blender, or push it through a seive.
Once that is done, make a slurry with some corn starch and cold water and add that to the soup along with a can of evaporated milk. You could also use cream, but evaporated milk does the same thing.
It is much lower in fat and trust me when I tell you that you won't taste it in the long run. I always have evaporated milk in my store cupboard and I use it a lot in the place of cream when cooking. Undiluted of course.
Although both products have been heat treated to remove some of the water, condensing the product roughly in half, condensed milk has sugar added to it which makes it incredibly thick and sweet.
All of the content you see here on this page, both photography and written, are the sole property of The English Kitchen, Marie Rayner. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Once you have added the milk and cornstarch slurry, you will need to bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce it to a simmer, simmering everything together until it bubbles and thickens.
Once this has happened you can add the cheese. I always grate my own cheese for things like this. It melts much better into the soup.
I add it by small handfuls, stirring in and melting each handful before I add another one. It works a charm. You soup/bisque will now be done and ready to serve.
I tried to make some fancy leaf shaped garlic croutons to float on top of my soup today, but alas, they didn't end up looking like leaves. I sure miss my autumn set of cookie cutters that I had to leave in the UK. They were the perfect size and shape.
It was a set I had gotten from Gooseberry Patch many years ago. I also had a Christmas set and a Heart in hand cookie cutter and a special gingerbread man cookie cutter that had a heart in the center. I try not to think overly much about what got left behind because when I do, it upsets me a tiny bit.
In any case, I hope you will make this lovely soup. Its really simple to make and deliciously rich and cream. If you don't love it, I'll eat my hat!
Garlic & White Cheddar Bisque
Yield: 6
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M
This rich, delicious soup makes an excellent first course for a holiday meal, or when served with some crusty bread a fabulous light lunch or supper.
Ingredients
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 TBS canola oil
- 1 medium leek ( the white and light green parts only) washed, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 small parsnip, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 stick of celery, trimmed and chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic peeled and minced
- 1 cans of chicken broth (28 ounces)
- 2/3 cup (160ml) dry white wine (see notes for substitutions)
- 2 TBS corn starch
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
- 2 cups (240g) freshly grated sharp white cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. Once the butter begins to foam add all of the vegetables. Cook, stirring occasionally, over moderate heat until the vegetables are crispy tender (6 to 8 minutes).
- Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes longer, then add the chicken stock and wine. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for15 to 20 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.
- Using a stick blender (or very carefully in a regular blender) blitz the soup until smooth.
- Whisk together the corn starch and cold water. Add this to the soup along with the evaporated milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until thick and bubbling.
- Whisk in the cheese, one handful at a time, until the cheese is thoroughly blended into the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper.
- Ladle into heated bowls and serve immediately.
Notes:
If you don't have any white wine you may substitute the following in its place and in the equal amount. Ginger ale. Additional chicken stock. White wine vinegar and water mixed half and half. Water.
One thing I really love about the arrival of the autumn months is that we have a huge variety of fresh vegetables coming into the markets. We usually have bright sunny days and cooler nights.
Much of the humidity and heat of the summer has dissipated and we can start to enjoy some heartier fare and dishes. I just love using all of the local fresh produce in this way!!
With things easing up a bit Covid wise here in Nova Scotia, I felt that I wanted to invite my friend Jacquie over for lunch one day last week. She has been a good friend to me for many years.
She lost her husband Tom several years ago now. Tom baptized me when I joined the church. So Jacquie is on her own now, and I am on my own now as well. I am lucky in that I have plenty of family around to help keep me occupied, but Jacquie has nobody. She is literally on her own.
So anyways I invited her over for lunch on Friday. I thought to just make something simple for us to enjoy. Jacquie is a quasi-vegetarian. She will eat fish, and she likes turkey, but she basically doesn't eat much in the way of meat at all, and she avoids dairy completely.
So when I was thinking of something to serve for lunch I remembered a soup that I used to make when I worked at the Manor for the ladies' luncheons for a root vegetable soup. It was delicious and all of the ladies loved it.
It used a mix of root vegetables in any combination. One thing which was lovely about it was that the vegetables were roasted in the oven prior to making the soup.
Roasting the vegetables first really helped to broaden the depth of flavors and heighten the sweetness of the root vegetables.
I thought it was something we both would enjoy! I was right. It went down a real treat.
I love this soup. The original soup was based on a recipe by Ina Garten I believe, but I can't be sure. In any case adding the curry flavors was my idea. Root vegetables lend themselves very well to the flavors of curry.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE ROAST ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP
One of the nicest things about this soup is that you can use any combination of root vegetables that you have to hand, depending on what you really enjoy to eat. On this particular day I used butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, onions and garlic.
You can also use Swede (rutabaga), celeriac, any kind of winter squash, potatoes, etc. Really any root vegetable in any combination will work.
Other than that you only need some good vegetable or chicken stock. I like the gel stock pots. You also need salt, pepper, curry powder, ground cumin, ground ginger and ground coriander. These spices will give your soup a lovely flavor. Feel free to increase the amounts depending on how spicy you like your soups to be!
HOW TO MAKE ROAST ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP
There is nothing difficult whatsoever when it comes to making this soup. I am rather lazy you know and if I can find a way of doing things easier I will! No fuss, no muss is my motto!
You just peel all of your vegetables and then cut them into cubes, roughly 1-inch in size. These get tossed together with some olive oil and seasoning and then roasted in a hot oven. Roasted until they start to caramelize just a tiny bit. It is this caramelization that will give your soup flavor and even some color!
Once roasted you need to have a pot of hot stock waiting to add the tender, and caramelized vegetables too. It is at this time I also add my curry seasonings.
You could roast the vegetables with them, but I prefer to do it this way so that they are not overly intense.
The vegetables get simmered in the stock for a bit and then the whole thing gets blitzed until smooth either using a stick blender or in a regular blender, and that's basically it.
Depending on the type of vegetables you have used you may need a bit more stock to give you the proper consistency. On this particular day I used several sweet potatoes, which can be a bit thick, so I probably used a bit more stock than in the recipe.
Also the amount of stock will vary according to how thick you want your soup. If you like your soup to be more like a soup and less like a vegetable puree, you will obviously need more stock.
Because this soup was for company, I also pressed it through a sieve using the back of a wooden spoon after I pureed it. I wanted to make sure it was super smooth and velvety, creamy even. That did the trick beautifully.
I did not want to be eating baby food. Because there is no dairy or milk in the recipe, it reheats beautifully without risk of curdling, etc.
I topped the individual servings of soup with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, a smattering of freshly ground black pepper and some crispy garlic bread croutons that I made myself. This soup was delicious. Truly delicious.
I served it with some crusty bread for mopping and a large mixed leaf salad with peas, red onion, radishes, cucumber, baby tomatoes, boiled egg, crispy onions and a mustard vinaigrette. We had lemon squares for dessert and we were two very happy campers.
It was a delicious lunch for sure, but the best part was getting to spend some time together. Jacquie got to get out of her house for a while, and I got to spend time with a good, good friend. I feel safe with Jacquie because she is on her own and doesn't mingle with a lot of people, just at church and we are all well masked and distanced from each other. It was just good. Good. Good.
Curry Roasted Root Vegetable Soup
Yield: 2 -3
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour
One of my favorite soups to make in the autumn when all of the root vegetables are ripe for the pulling and the days are becoming cooler. Delicious. Its a balance to end up with soup instead of vegetable puree, so make sure you add enough stock so this doesn't happen. The amount will largely depend on the vegetables you use! You can easily double this to serve more.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds assorted root vegetables, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (I like to use a mix of carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabaga, onions, winter squash, garlic and shallots)
- 1 1/2 TBS olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 - 4 cups (720ml - 960ml) good vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 tsp medium curry powder
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- fine sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Toss the vegetables in a bowl along with the oil, sea salt and black pepper. Spread out on a lightly oiled baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until tender, giving them a stir a couple of times.
- Heat the chicken or vegetable stock in a saucepan adding the coriander, cumin and curry powder. Add the roasted vegetables and heat through. Remove from the heat and, using an immersion blender, blitz until smooth. (You can push it through a sieve at this point if you want it even smoother.)
- Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. If the soup is too thick, thin with more hot stock until you have the consistency you want. Heat through again and serve hot, ladled into heated bowls, with a drizzle of olive oil on top and some garlic croutons. (See note.)
Notes:
To make garlic croutons. Cut several thick slices of a rustic bread into 3/4 inch cubes. (I discard the crusts) Toss together with some salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste, and a drizzle of olive oil. Toast in a 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6 oven for 10 minutes or so, stirring halfway through the bake time, until golden brown.
All nutritional data is calculated by the recipe card program and may not be entirely accurate.
Creamy White Chili. I am a huge fan of chili, but if I am being honest here, and I always try to be, this creamy white chili is my absolute favorite version. I never tire of it, and yes it uses my favorite source of protein. Chicken.
This is an incredibly flavorful version of a white chili filled with hearty beans, tender juicy pieces of chicken, green chilies and a delicious variety of spices.
Roasted Tomato Soup. Nothing is more delicious than a fabulous soup made from fresh ripe vine tomatoes tomatoes roasted in the oven with plenty of herbs and garlic.
Several weeks in a row my sister and I were lucky enough to score two very large boxes of fresh vine-ripened tomatoes at the shops. Normally I would not get so excited about seeing tomatoes out of season, but these looked beautiful and the price was right.
They were only $4.99 for about 6 pounds of them. An amazing value, and what is wonderful about tomatoes is that they keep ripening so long as you keep them out on the counter.
The first bunch we enjoyed in tomato sandwiches and bacon and tomato sandwiches. And then the next week they had them marked down to $3.99 for the box and we bought some more to use in a soup and more sandwiches.
Yes, we love tomatoes.
I have a confession to make. I adore Reuben Sandwiches. There is not a much tastier sandwich than the classic Reuban, rye bread piled high with plenty of shaved salty corned beef or pastrami, tangy sauerkraut and rich melted cheese. Lets not forget the Thousand Island Dressing.
This delicious soup recipe takes all of those flavors and combines them in one tasty creamy bowl, perfect to enjoy on these first chilly, often rainy, days of spring.
These days can be a bit damp and chilly, the perfect kind of soup weather. And this is one very delicious bowl of soup! I have veer a bit of course from the traditional Rueben soup however, but hear me out.
I did not have any sauerkraut to use today. Instead I used cabbage. I thought it would work well in it's place, with the exception of it not being sour.
I cooked the cabbage until it was meltingly tender, almost buttery, along with some onions and a tiny bit of garlic. It smelled gorgeous. I do so love the smell of cabbage. I know not everyone does, but I do.
I got meltingly tender cabbage, no tang, but the addition of a bit of caraway seed more than made up for that.
I used Pastrami. Corned beef and pastrami are quite different actually even though they may seem quite similar and are often used interchangeably.
Corned beef is usually made using beef brisket. Brisket comes from the lower chest of the animal, whereas pastrami comes from the deckle, which is a lean wider shoulder cut, or the navel, a smaller juicier section below the ribs.
Both are brined before they are cooked. Both are rubbed with and submerged in a solution of salt and spiced, and left to cure for a period of time. This helps to infuse the meat with more moisture and flavor.
Commonly a mixture of salt, sugar, black pepper, cloves, coriander, bay leaves, juniper berries, and dill, as well as the preservatives sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite will be used.
The real difference comes in the coating which is used to cover the surface of pastrami after brining. Corned beef is generally left naked, although it is often simmered with a variety of spices when cooking it.
Pastrami has a spice coating of black pepper, coriander and mustard seeds, fennel seeds and often garlic. This gives it that darker outside color.
They also differ in the manner of cooking.
Corned beef is boiled, whilst Pastrami is smoked, over hardwood. A pan of water is often kept nearby to create steam and keep the meat tender and moist.
So you can see, whilst being very similar in flavor and often used interchangeably, they are also very different.
As I said, today I used Pastrami because that is what I had and I have to say it turned out delicious.
Everything was simmered for a time in chicken broth. The pastrami, the cabbage, garlic, caraway . . .
The creaminess comes not from adding any milk or cream, but by the clever use of a bit of flour for thickening.
I added some gruyere cheese at the end (swiss) and of course a touch of Thousand Island Dressing. What would a Reuben be without Thousand Island Dressing?
I also sprinkled some of the cheese on top of the soup to serve.
I didn't have any rye bread or I would have added some rye bread croutons, which would have added even more to the authenticity of it. Buttery rye bread crunch, just like the sandwich.
If you have some rye bread, do make yourself some crunchy rye croutons. Just butter the bread lightly, cut into shapes and then toast them in a hot oven until golden and crisp. It won't take long, maybe about 10 minutes at about 200*C/400*F will do the trick.
Instead we enjoyed it with some crusty bread on the side, torn into pieces and lightly buttered. Oh my, but I do so adore a crusty loaf when served with soup. Truth be told I adore a crusty loaf any time!
I really hope you will give this rather unconventional version of reuben soup and that you will enjoy it as much as we did. Rich, creamy, delicious and wonderfully hearty! Perfect for a cooler spring day!
Reuben Soup
Yield: 4
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 25 Mintotal time: 35 Min
Hearty and comforting. We loved this.
Ingredients
- 1 TBS unsalted butter (Only because the pastrami is salty)
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 small head of cabbage, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- 1/2 tsp caraway seed (or less if you are not fond of it)
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 1/2 TBS plain flour
- 1/2 pound sliced pastrami, rolled up and cut into slivers
- 1 1/4 litre of chicken stock (5 cups)
- 30g thousand island salad dressing (1/4 cup)
- 130g of grated gruyere cheese (1 cup Swiss) divided
- minced chives or parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cabbage.
- Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until beginning to soften without browning.
- Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add the caraway and the flour and cook for a minute.
- Stir in the chicken stock and corned beef and bring to the boil.
- Reduce to a slow simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes to meld all the flavours and make sure the cabbage is nice and soft.
- Stir in half the cheese along with the salad dressing. Stir to melt the cheese.
- Ladle into hot bowls and garnish with the remaining cheese and minced chives or parsley.
- Serve immediately. Crusty bread or rye bread goes very well with this.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Thank you for visiting! Do come again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons